Foster Kinship was founded in 2011 after our director, Ali Caliendo noticed a disparity between resources for children in kinship care and those in foster care with strangers. We opened our first office in 2012 and started the Navigator Program on a budget of only $17K.

The following year our navigator program doubled the number of families served as did our volunteer base and outreach. In 2014 we were able to hire our first employee in addition to partnering with the Department of Family Services to provide Kinship Info Sessions. By 2016 we had grown to 11 employees and added valuable programs to our services and resources such as Our Resource Locator Tool, Child Welfare Training, and Childcare program.

In 2019 our Navigator Program expanded Statewide and legislation was passed in the Fictive Kin TANF/KinGAP Bill furthering the rights and resources to kinship families in Nevada.

Currently, Foster Kinship has grown to 24 employees with offices in both Clark and Washoe County. We have added even more resources like our Respite Care Program, and our Navigator Program, the first of its kind in Nevada, after an external evaluation has received support for an evidence-based designation.

Foster Kinship is proud of how far we have come but know that there is still plenty of work ahead of us in advocating and providing support to the 1 in 20 children that are growing up in a home without a parent.

With your support we can help keep home in the family and strengthen kinship caregivers’ capacity to provide safe, stable, and nurturing homes for children.

Join us for our 10 Years Together celebration: https://bit.ly/10-Years-Together